The New Generation Of Idol Stars Is Here

The idol generational shift has already begun. Last year's EXO's had a huge influence, and it looks as though they'll have some competition from other idol stars. That's because YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment will both be debuting new groups.

JYP Entertainment debuted their first boy group in 6 years after 2PM. GOT7 has opened fire. On January 15th they held a showcase, where they met with the public. GOT7 is composed of members of different nationalities, including Korean, American, Hong Kong, and Thai members.

What's unique about GOT7 is their dance combination of hip hop and martial arts. They differentiated themselves with this new type of dance called martial arts tricking. It's not just a simple technique. They're so good, their individual sense of choreography has earned them the nickname of 'little Park Jin Young.' Their performance does leave a great impression on the viewer, and it's helpful that they're presenting something different from the other groups.

In the past JYP Entertainment put the focus on strong personality visuals. JB and Jr, who debuted with JJ Project last year, and the other members boast a graceful visual. Do we care call them as the 7 Nichkhuns? JYP has often fallen short in comparison to SM and YG, at least in terms of boy groups' visuals, but now it seems they're putting forth their hidden card.

YG Entertainment's new group WINNER first got their faces out there by appearing on their own survival program called "WIN: Who Is Next." WINNER was part of Team A, who won the final winning title. This earned them their debut, and WINNER will be the first YG boy group to debut in 8 years since Big Bang. YG decided to capture WINNER's debut preparation on Mnet's reality program "WINNER TV."

SM Entertainment scored big with EXO. They haven't taken a break since, and they will be debuting another group called "SM Rookies. Currently they are trainees preparing for their debut. Up to now they have revealed some of the members of SM Rookies, but it's unclear whether they will debut as idol groups or actors. Will SM be able to debut another star group?

Big companies that previously hadn't released very many rookies are now scouting for talent and devoting their time and efforts into debuting new groups. And some new groups don't become very popular at all. Although some individual members of a group may rise to popularity, as a group it's seen less frequent than before. Consider girl groups, for example, KARA and Wonder Girls are unstable right now, but Girls' Generation is doing pretty well.

One agency rep commented, "Seeing a group rise to the top with their comeback has become a thing of the past. Last year EXO reached the top of the highest spots, and other agencies were threatened, to be sure. This may be part of the reason why some agencies are speeding up the process to hurry up and debut new groups, because of a competitive spirit."

Cultural critic Kang Tae Kyu commented, "The biggest source of revenue in the music industry is idol stars, to be sure. It's true now and it was true even in the 90s. Even if some were to say that idols have become trite and that the genre has been overdone, it's just a small percentage that feels this way. But it's become rare to see only idols competing to rank in the top spots. We have to release a wide variety of contents. The agency that tries a variety of new experiences will be able to survive and succeed in this industry."

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EXO
JYP Entertainment
YG Entertainment
GOT7
2PM
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Big Bang
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MB
JR
JJ Project
SM Entertainment
SM ROOKIES
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